Feathered Friends

A finish on the stitching front from Heart In Hand. These seasonal birds from the Wee Ones series are just too cute. I'm not loving the bee charm in the summer square, but I guess it's ok.

Please excuse the crooked scan. :-)

It's really not rocket science!

I did it. I finished my first sock. Here it is, in YarnHarlot (my link button is not working - grrrr. http://www.yarnharlot.ca/) fashion, in the snow.
The whole sock:
Close-up of the heel:

Why do I compare knitting a sock to rocket science? I didn't really know what I was doing, so at the beginning it seemed to be really difficult. I knew how to knit and purl - that's it. I did not (still don't really) know how to read a knitting pattern. I have never finished a knitting project. I have a few scarves of various lengths in bags around the house, but I don't know how to cast off or bind off, so I can't finish them. I'm sure I could find directions on the Internet, but I'm really not interested in scarves - I'm interested in socks.

Two years ago (yes, I'm admitting that) I found directions online for knitting socks. Directions - not a pattern. (They can be found here http://www.cometosilver.com/socks/, if anyone is interested.) So two years ago, I cast on this sock, ripped it out, cast on, ripped it out, cast on....you get the idea. I couldn't get the hang of stitching with 4 DPNs. Finally I got it and completed about an inch of ribbing. It wasn't fun, so I put it away.

A few weeks ago, my mom and I visited a yarn shop. A real yarn shop. And I fell in love with the possibilities and all the sock yarn. But, I hadn't completed a sock yet, so I told myself I would not buy sock yarn until I was sure I could knit a sock. I finished this sock in 3 days. Technically 2 years and 3 days, but who's counting?

I'm very proud of this sock. It's not perfect and sadly it doesn't fit anyone's foot at my house, but it's a sock. This is my first attempt and I was aiming for something that was sock-like. My results are better than sock-like - this really is a sock that could be worn by a small person. I've amazed myself.

Yes, this sock will stay singular, because of the size issue. I'm thinking of hanging it on my wall though, as a reminder to take chances and expect the best.